Tony Klassen - ARK New Era Euphonon Square-Shoulder Jumbo Style 7 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (2008)
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Tony Klassen - ARK New Era Euphonon Square-Shoulder Jumbo Style 7 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (2008), made in Chesterton, Indiana, serial # 0040, sunburst top, natural back and sides finish, mahogany back and sides, spruce top; laminated m,ahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
ARK-New Era Guitars luthier Tony Klassen was best known as a champion of the great but under-appreciated 1920s-30s vintage acoustic guitar designs, especially those of Swedish brothers Carl and August Larson. He began building Larson inspired guitars early in the 21st Century, eventually expanding his offerings to include re-creations of other rare and sought after instruments including Gibson's early-depression Kel Kroydon gems and the 1930s Bacon & Day flat top line. Based in Indiana, Klassen was a one-man operation, producing impressive instruments capturing much of the magic of the rare original guitars earning praise from discerning collectors and players. He built only around 15 guitars a year, spending on average about 6 weeks per guitar. Sadly Tony passed away in 2022, and his instruments are now sought after on their own merits as continuations of otherwise largely lost streams of flat-top guitar evolution.
This guitar is a delightful re-creation of a later 1930s Larson Brothers "Euphonon" Square-Shoulder Jumbo, cataloged by Klassen as Style 7. This just over 16" wide narrow-waisted jumbo has the distinctly flat upper sides that give it a name, with a gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish overall and hot hide glue construction. The Adirondack Spruce top is trimmed in colored wood marquetry with B/W/B top purfling and rosette, B/W side and back purfling with Ivoroid binding on the back, sides and fingerboard. The ebony bridge has the Larson's trademark clover inlay and ivoroid bridge pins with a bone nut and saddle. The defining Larson-style feature is 3-piece laminated Spruce/Rosewood/Spruce X top bracing, the design August Larson patented and few others have ever used and part of the secret to their distinctive sound.
The 3-piece laminated mahogany neck has a rosewood center stripe; the bound ebony fretboard has mixed mother of pearl inlay in a classic Larson pattern. The ebony peghead overlay also uses the brothers' motifs with pearl bowtie, clover and dot inlay. It is fitted with Waverley open-gear vintage style tuners with Ivoroid buttons. The truss rod is adjustable from the headstock end; later models used a sound hole truss rod adjustment. This is a lovely re-creation of a super rare Larson classic, a superb guitar in its own right and a fitting memorial to our friend Tony, who did more than anyone to preserve the less obvious paths of 1930s"golden era' flat top guitar design.
Overall length is 39 3/4 in. (101 cm.), 16 1/8 in. (41 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
This guitar shows only light signs of use, with some scuffing and handling marks and one small ding to the top near the back edge and a couple on the sides. It simply appears lightly played over the past 15+ years; the frets do show a little but of wear but nothing that affects function. It plays well and the sound is quite powerful, if not exactly as transparent as many old Larson guitars a bit fuller in a Martin-y way. The guitar resides in a modern (probably original) HSC. Overall Excellent Condition.
ARK-New Era Guitars luthier Tony Klassen was best known as a champion of the great but under-appreciated 1920s-30s vintage acoustic guitar designs, especially those of Swedish brothers Carl and August Larson. He began building Larson inspired guitars early in the 21st Century, eventually expanding his offerings to include re-creations of other rare and sought after instruments including Gibson's early-depression Kel Kroydon gems and the 1930s Bacon & Day flat top line. Based in Indiana, Klassen was a one-man operation, producing impressive instruments capturing much of the magic of the rare original guitars earning praise from discerning collectors and players. He built only around 15 guitars a year, spending on average about 6 weeks per guitar. Sadly Tony passed away in 2022, and his instruments are now sought after on their own merits as continuations of otherwise largely lost streams of flat-top guitar evolution.
This guitar is a delightful re-creation of a later 1930s Larson Brothers "Euphonon" Square-Shoulder Jumbo, cataloged by Klassen as Style 7. This just over 16" wide narrow-waisted jumbo has the distinctly flat upper sides that give it a name, with a gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish overall and hot hide glue construction. The Adirondack Spruce top is trimmed in colored wood marquetry with B/W/B top purfling and rosette, B/W side and back purfling with Ivoroid binding on the back, sides and fingerboard. The ebony bridge has the Larson's trademark clover inlay and ivoroid bridge pins with a bone nut and saddle. The defining Larson-style feature is 3-piece laminated Spruce/Rosewood/Spruce X top bracing, the design August Larson patented and few others have ever used and part of the secret to their distinctive sound.
The 3-piece laminated mahogany neck has a rosewood center stripe; the bound ebony fretboard has mixed mother of pearl inlay in a classic Larson pattern. The ebony peghead overlay also uses the brothers' motifs with pearl bowtie, clover and dot inlay. It is fitted with Waverley open-gear vintage style tuners with Ivoroid buttons. The truss rod is adjustable from the headstock end; later models used a sound hole truss rod adjustment. This is a lovely re-creation of a super rare Larson classic, a superb guitar in its own right and a fitting memorial to our friend Tony, who did more than anyone to preserve the less obvious paths of 1930s"golden era' flat top guitar design.
Overall length is 39 3/4 in. (101 cm.), 16 1/8 in. (41 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
This guitar shows only light signs of use, with some scuffing and handling marks and one small ding to the top near the back edge and a couple on the sides. It simply appears lightly played over the past 15+ years; the frets do show a little but of wear but nothing that affects function. It plays well and the sound is quite powerful, if not exactly as transparent as many old Larson guitars a bit fuller in a Martin-y way. The guitar resides in a modern (probably original) HSC. Overall Excellent Condition.